Monday, August 27, 2012

No-bake, vegan, apple crunch squares

It was with a certain amount of joy that I woke up in my own bed yesterday morning. With the Adelaide-based conference out of the way, it has started to dawn on me that our wedding really is in five days. Five days!

A (mostly) home-based Sunday in sunny Perth was just what I needed to adjust from the frenzy last week. The luxury of a day with no outside commitments also, of course, meant that I could spend some time in the kitchen.

At the moment, I really don't need to be baking huge quantities of goods. After the wedding, it is only a week before our one month trip away, and so we are trying to run down food rather than stock up on it. Fortunately, there are some things that can be made quickly and then eaten quickly. These no-bake apple crunch squares are definitely in that category, and have the added bonus of including just three core ingredients.

Interestingly, the resulting squares reminded me of rice bubble bars (the type made with marshmallows) and fruit leather. I appreciate these are quite different products. I can only say that these squares seem to blend the two, with the 'puff' and slight stickiness of rice bubble bars, and the dominant fruit flavour and texture of fruit leather. I made my squares quite thin, which might have added to the fruit leather experience.

These aren't my favourite no bake treats, but that is because apple isn't my favourite dried fruit. They are enjoyable for a change, though, and are lighter than standard dried fruit and nut mixes. Making them as squares instead of balls was also nice for something different.

No-bake apple crunch squares

A apple-flavoured treat that is reminiscent of rice bubble bars and fruit leather strips

Roughly chop the dried apple. Process the dried apple and cashews in a food processor until well mixed and starting to look crumbly (~ 1 minute).

Add the puffed cereal, apple sauce and vanilla to the food processor and continue processing until the ingredients are well mixed and starting to clump together.

Line a square baking tin (or a loaf tin) with baking paper and press the apple mixture firmly into the tin. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or until set. Cut into squares before serving.

You really can't get much simpler than this!

The best thing is, these could also be modified in almost never-ending ways - different dried fruit, different puffed cereal, and different nuts. An apricot and almond version comes to mind as a good pairing. A tablespoon of nut or sesame seed butter would add creaminess if that's your thing. These could also be made in a loaf tin, to make thicker slices, or you could double the ingredients to make higher squares.

All in all, I suspect I'll be seeing more of these sorts of squares in my kitchen in the future.

OMG - 5 days - so excited for you guys! Wishing you all the best for the big day. The apple bars look amazing. I have found two new vegan sites tonight that I love - I am all for sweet recipes that are healthy too.

Thank you! And I'm really glad you've discovered some more vegan sites - sweet recipes that are healthy are a pretty great concept (mind you, not all vegan sweet recipes are healthy, but the proportion seems to be higher than average!).

I can't believe you have just five days to go. That's so exciting. And to have a lovely four week holiday after the wedding will be such a great start to marriage. Best wishes with getting everything organised for your big day xx

I spent so many years thinking / feeling that way :P Hopefully you'll get one eventually, but in the meantime, you could probably make a semi-version of these by mixing nut butter and apple sauce and puffed cereal by hand? I'm not sure how they'd come out but they might work!

Yum! So glad that you were able to relax after a busy week. ;) Baking and making goodies is always a fun way to do that. These look pretty easy to make too! :) I am seeing this on top of some greek yogurt!

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